Air intake apparatus and manufacturing method of air intake apparatus

ABSTRACT

An air intake apparatus includes an air intake apparatus body including a surge tank, a valve body rotatably attached to the surge tank and configured to rotate between an open position and a closed position to open and close a fluid passage formed at a partition wall dividing an inside of the surge tank into two parts, the valve body being out of contact with the partition wall at the open position and being in contact with the partition wall at the closed position, the air intake apparatus body being formed by a first member to which the valve body is attached and a second member joined to each other, and the first member including a jig-receiving portion arranged in a vicinity of the fluid passage and configured to receive a jig holding the first member when the first member and the second member are being joined to each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 toJapanese Patent Application 2014-054738, filed on Mar. 18, 2014, theentire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to an air intake apparatus and amanufacturing method of the air intake apparatus.

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION

In general, an air intake control valve including a valve body to openand close a fluid passage is known. Such an air intake control valve isdisclosed in, for example, JP2008-144768A, which will be hereinafterreferred to as Patent reference 1.

According to a butterfly-valve-type control valve (an air intake controlvalve) disclosed in Patent reference 1, the air intake control valveincludes a frame-shaped body (a frame) formed with an air intake passage(a fluid passage), and a valve (a valve body) supported by theframe-shaped body to rotate between an open position and a closedposition to open and close the air intake passage provided at an innerside of the body.

In addition, according to a known configuration of a surge tank for aninternal-combustion engine, an inside space portion of the surge tank isdivided into two space portions by a partition wall, and thebutterfly-valve-type control valve (the air intake control valve)described in Patent reference 1 is provided at an opening portion formedat the partition wall so that a resonance frequency of an air intakesystem is changed and thus an effective supercharging effect is obtainedin a wide engine operation range. In this configuration, theframe-shaped body (the frame) in a state where the valve (the valvebody) is attached thereto is fitted into the opening portion penetratingthe partition wall of the surge tank-side. In a case where the valvesupported by the body rotates to the open position, the two spaceportions in the surge tank are in fluid communication with each otherthrough the air intake passage (the fluid passage) formed at the innerside of the body. Further, in a case where the valve rotates to theclosed position, the air intake passage formed at the inner side of thebody is blocked to separate the two space portions from each other.

In the aforementioned known configuration, however, the frame-shapedbody is fitted in the opening portion formed at the partition wall andthe air intake passage formed at the inner side of the frame-shaped bodyis opened and closed with the valve. According to this configuration, itis difficult to provide a sufficient cross-sectional area (an openingarea) of the air intake passage opened and closed with the valve. Inother words, the frame-shaped body is fitted into the opening portion ofthe partition wall, and accordingly the cross-sectional area of the airintake passage is smaller than an opening area of the opening portion ofthe partition wall. Therefore, in a case where the valve is opened andthe two space portions are in fluid communication with each other, thecross-sectional area of the air intake passage decreases and therefore apressure loss of the intake air circulating through the air intakepassage increases. Consequently, there is such a problem that an amountof the intake air circulating through the air intake passage decreases,and as a result, a sufficient supercharging effect is not obtained.

Thus, a configuration can be considered, in which the valve (the valvebody) is attached directly to the surge tank and the opening portionformed at the partition wall of the surge tank is opened and closed bythe valve, and accordingly the opening area of the air intake passagewhen the valve is open is increased.

In the aforementioned configuration where the opening portion (the fluidpassage) of the partition wall is opened and closed by the valve (thevalve body) attached directly to the surge tank, the surge tank, thatis, one surge tank, may be formed in a manner that, for example, pluralmembers including a member to which the valve is mounted are joined toeach other by vibration welding. However, the partition wall dividingthe internal portion of the surge tank into the two space portions issusceptible to deformation in the process of joining the plural memberswith each other by the vibration welding. In a case where straindeformation including curvature and/or torsion is generated at a portion(a seal portion) of the partition wall around the valve due to a way ofapplying load during the vibration welding, the valve (the valve body)is not uniformly or evenly in contact with the seal portion (a sealsurface) of the partition wall around the opening portion (the fluidpassage) formed at the partition wall. As a result, sealability or asealing performance decreases.

A need thus exists for an air intake apparatus and a manufacturingmethod of the air intake apparatus which are not susceptible to thedrawback mentioned above.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of this disclosure, an air intake apparatusincludes an air intake apparatus body including a surge tank for aninternal combustion engine, a valve body rotatably attached to the surgetank and configured to rotate between an open position and a closedposition to open and close a fluid passage formed at a partition walldividing an inside of the surge tank into two parts, the valve bodybeing out of contact with the partition wall at the open position andbeing in contact with the partition wall at the closed position, the airintake apparatus body being formed by a first member to which the valvebody is attached and a second member joined to each other, and the firstmember including a jig-receiving portion arranged in a vicinity of thefluid passage and configured to receive a jig holding the first memberwhen the first member and the second member are being joined to eachother.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, a manufacturing methodof an air intake apparatus, includes a step of attaching a valve body toa first member, the valve body rotating between an open position and aclosed position to open and close a fluid passage formed at a partitionwall dividing an inside of a surge tank for an internal combustionengine into two parts, the valve body being out of contact with thepartition wall at the open position and being in contact with thepartition wall at the closed position, a step of forming an air intakeapparatus body including the surge tank for the internal combustionengine in a manner that the first member to which the valve body isattached and a second member are joined to each other by vibrationwelding, and the step of forming the air intake apparatus body includinga step of joining the first member and the second member to each otherby the vibration welding in a state where a jig-receiving portionarranged in a vicinity of the fluid passage of the first member is heldby a jig.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of thisdisclosure will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription considered with the reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an arrangement in an air intakeapparatus according to an embodiment disclosed here;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of the airintake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the configuration ofthe air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a fluid passage formed at a partitionwall of the air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the fluid passage and anair intake control valve rotatably provided at the fluid passage, whichis taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a supportstructure of a first end portion side (a Y2 direction side) of a valvebody of the air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the fluid passage when the valvebody is at “an open position”, which is taken along the line VII-VII inFIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the fluid passage when the valvebody is at “a closed position”, which is taken along the line VIII-VIIIin FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a supportstructure of a second end portion side (a Y1 direction side) of thevalve body of the air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a state where both the first endportion and the second end portion of the valve body are supported by asurge tank in the air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the airintake control valve is attached to the surge tank in the air intakeapparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a lateral view illustrating a configuration of an actuatorattach portion in the air intake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process of attachingthe air intake control valve to a middle piece in the air intakeapparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 14 is another cross-sectional view for explaining the process ofattaching the air intake control valve to the middle piece in the airintake apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process of joiningthe middle piece to which the air intake control valve is attached and alower piece to each other in the air intake apparatus according to theembodiment;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process of joiningthe middle piece to which the air intake control valve is attached and alower piece to each other in the air intake apparatus according to theembodiment; and

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of theembodiment disclosed here, where an escape portion of the air intakeapparatus is concave upward.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure is now described on the basis ofthe drawings.

First, the configuration of an air intake apparatus 100 according to thepresent embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16.

The air intake apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is anair intake apparatus provided at a V-type 6-cylinder engine 10 for anautomobile, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The air intake apparatus 100includes an air intake apparatus body 105 including a surge tank 1, anair intake control valve 2 provided inside the surge tank 1, and threefirst air intake ports 3 a and three second air intake ports 3 b whichare arranged at a downstream side of the surge tank 1. Structurally, theair intake apparatus body 105 of the air intake apparatus 100 integrallyincludes the surge tank 1 and the first and second air intake ports 3 aand 3 b, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The air intake control valve 2 (referto FIG. 1) is attached to an internal portion of the air intakeapparatus body 105. The V-type 6-cylinder engine 10 is an example of “aninternal combustion engine” of the present disclosure.

Intake air flows into the surge tank 1 through an air cleaner and athrottle 110. The surge tank 1 has a partition wall 4 dividing aninternal portion of the surge tank 1 into two parts, that is, into afirst surge tank region 11 and a second surge tank region 12. The airintake control valve 2 includes a function of opening and closing afluid passage 41 including an opening portion formed at a part of thepartition wall 4. The air intake control valve 2 is configured to openand close the fluid passage 41 by a drive force by an actuator 120. Theactuator 120 is configured to be driven on the basis of a signaltransmitted from an engine control unit (ECU) 130.

The three first air intake ports 3 a respectively connect the firstsurge tank region 11 arranged at an upper side (a Z1 side) of thepartition wall 4 and three cylinders 110 a provided in a first bank 10 aof the V-type 6-cylinder engine 10 to each other. The three second airintake ports 3 b respectively connect the second surge tank region 12arranged at a lower side (a Z2 side) of the partition wall 4 and threecylinders 110 b provided in a second bank 10 b of the V-type 6-cylinderengine 10 to each other. The three cylinders 110 a of the first bank 10a are a cylinder group including No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 whose ignitiontimings are not consecutive, and the three cylinders 110 b of the secondbank 10 b are a cylinder group including No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6 whoseignition timings are not consecutive. Due to the aforementionedconfiguration, in the air intake apparatus 100 according to the presentembodiment, the air intake control valve 2 appropriately opens andcloses the fluid passage 41 in response to engine rotation, whereby aresonance frequency of an air intake system can be changed to obtain aneffective supercharging effect in a wide engine operation range. Theconfiguration of the air intake apparatus 100 is hereinafter describedin more detail.

The air intake apparatus body 105 (the surge tank 1) is constituted byan upper piece 101, a lower piece 102, and a middle piece 103 heldbetween the upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102, as illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the upper piece 101, the lower piece 102, and themiddle piece 103 is made of resin. The upper piece 101 includes a jointportion 101 a and the lower piece 102 includes a joint portion 102 a.The middle piece 103 includes a joint portion 103 a formed at the Z1side and a joint portion 103 b formed at the Z2 side. The joint portion101 a of the upper piece 101 is formed along a flange-shaped edgeportion (which includes a planar outer shape) of the upper piece 101seamlessly and continuously to include an annular shape. A joint surface(a lower surface at the Z2 side) of the joint portion 101 a faces thejoint portion 103 a of the middle piece 103 at an upper side (the Z1side). The joint portion 102 a of the lower piece 102 is formed along aflange-shaped edge portion (which includes a planar outer shape) of thelower piece 102 seamlessly and continuously to include an annular shape.A joint surface (an upper surface at the Z1 side) of the joint portion102 a faces the joint portion 103 b of the middle piece 103 at a lowerside (the Z2 side). Each of the joint portions 103 a and 103 b of themiddle piece 103 is formed along a flange-shaped edge portion (whichincludes a planar outer shape) of the middle piece 103 seamlessly andcontinuously to include an annular shape. The middle piece 103 serves asan example of “a first member” of the present disclosure. The upperpiece 101 and the lower piece 102 serve as an example of “a secondmember” of the present disclosure.

The joint portions 101 a to 103 b include a function to connect theupper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 with oneanother, corresponding to an outer configuration of the entire airintake apparatus body 105. Accordingly, corresponding to theconfiguration of each of the members, each of the joint portions 101 ato 103 b includes the joint surface formed in the annular shape havingplanar and steric curve and/or elevation difference (undulation orunevenness). In addition, each of the joint surfaces is formed toinclude such a configuration that provides a reliable sealing effect toone another.

The upper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 arejoined (welded) to one another in a manufacturing process or step withthe use of vibration welding as will be described later, while the jointportions 101 a to 103 b keeping a facing or opposing relationship withone another (that is, in a direction Z). Accordingly, the air intakeapparatus body 105 corresponding to one integral structure is obtained.The air intake apparatus body 105, that is, the one integral structure,includes the surge tank 1 formed in the internal portion thereof, thefirst air intake ports 3 a, and the second air intake ports 3 b whichare integrated into the one integral structure. Because the middle piece103 including the partition wall 4 is interposed between the upper piece101 and the lower piece 102, the inside of the surge tank 1 is dividedinto two, that is, the first surge tank region 11 and the second surgetank region 12. The first surge tank region 11 and the second surge tankregion 12 are arranged to overlap with each other in an up/downdirection (the direction Z). The first surge tank region 11 and thethree first air intake ports 3 a are constituted or defined by the upperpiece 101 and the middle piece 103. The second surge tank region 12 andthe three second air intake ports 3 b are constituted or defined by thelower piece 102 and the middle piece 103.

The middle piece 103 includes a connection portion 150 and an actuatorattach portion 160 each of which is formed to be integral with themiddle piece 103. The connection portion 150 is formed at an intake airinflow side (a Y1 side) of the joint portion 103 a (the joint portion103 b) to include a flange configuration. The actuator attach portion160 is positioned in the vicinity of a Y2 side of the fluid passage 41in which the valve body 21 rotates. An air intake passage 140 (refer toFIG. 1) extended from the side of the throttle 110 (refer to FIG. 1) isconnected to the connection portion 150. According to the surge tank 1,a valve body 21 (a rotation shaft 23), which will be described below, ofthe air intake control valve 2 is supported by the actuator attachportion 160 and a shaft member fixing portion 42 to be rotatable about arotation shaft line L1. Thicknesses (in the direction Z) of the actuatorattach portion 160 and the shaft member fixing portion 42 are greaterthan thickness of other portion of the surge tank 1, for example, thepartition wall 4.

As illustrated from FIGS. 4 to 6, the actuator attach portion 160includes a rotation shaft support hole 131 including a circular-shapedcross section and formed to extend in a direction Y. That is, theactuator attach portion 160 also functions as a rotation shaft supportportion. The rotation shaft support hole 131 is configured to include asmall-diameter portion 131 a, a medium-diameter portion 131 b and alarge-diameter portion 131 c from an inner side of the surge tank 1 (theY1 side) towards an outer side of the surge tank 1 (the Y2 side) in theabove-described order so that an inner diameter of the rotation shaftsupport hole 131 increases stepwisely in the above-described order.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fluid passage 41 constituted by theopening portion formed at the partition wall 4 of the surge tank 1 isprovided in the vicinity of an end portion of the surge tank 1 (at a Y2direction side) opposite to the intake air inflow side, and in thevicinity of an end portion of the surge tank 1 (at an X2 direction side)opposite to the side formed with the first air intake ports 3 a and thesecond air intake ports 3 b. The fluid passage 41 has a cross-sectionalshape corresponding to an outer configuration of the valve body 21 ofthe air intake control valve 2. The fluid passage 41 is in the form ofan elongate hole extended in the direction Y in a plan view, asillustrated in FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, 7 and 8, an edge portion 411 is formed atan X2 side of the fluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4 to bepositioned at the side of the first surge tank region 11. An edgeportion 412 (refer to FIGS. 4, 7 and 8) is formed at an X1 side of thefluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4 to be positioned at the side ofthe second surge tank region 12. Because the valve body 21 existsbetween the edge portions 411 and 412, the edge portion 412 is arrangedslightly at a lower side (the Z2 direction) relative to the edge portion411 correspondingly. As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the edge portion412 includes thickness greater than thickness of other portion of thepartition wall 4. A seal surface 411 a including an inclined surfaceinclined upwardly towards an inner side of the fluid passage 41 isformed at a bottom surface (the Z2 side) of the edge portion 411. A sealsurface 412 a including an inclined surface inclined downwardly towardsthe inner side of the fluid passage 41 is formed at an upper surface(the Z1 side) of the edge portion 412. As illustrated in FIG. 4, theseal surface 411 a and the seal surface 412 a are provided along theedge portion 411 and the edge portion 412 of the fluid passage 41,respectively.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the shaft member fixing portion 42 isintegrally formed on the partition wall 4. The shaft member fixingportion 42 is provided at an end portion of the fluid passage 41 at a Y1direction side. As illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 9, the shaft memberfixing portion 42 includes a shaft member support hole 421 including acircular cross-section and formed to extend in the direction Y. Asillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 9, a bush member 422 made of metal (stainlesssteel, aluminum alloy, or the like, for example) is integrally providedat the shaft member support hole 421. The bush member 422 is integrallyformed (insert-molded) at the partition wall 4 when the middle piece 103of the surge tank 1 is resin-molded. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5 and9, a concave escape portion 43 to insert a shaft member 215 (refer toFIG. 9), which will be described later, into the shaft member fixingportion 42 is provided in the vicinity of the shaft member fixingportion 42 of the partition wall 4. The concave escape portion 43 isformed to be concave or recessed downward (towards a Z2 direction side)and extend in the direction Y. As illustrated in FIG. 9, a bottomsurface 43 a of the escape portion 43 is arranged at the same heightposition as a lower end of the shaft member support hole 421.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 7, 8, and 10, according to the presentembodiment, the air intake control valve 2 is rotatably attached to thesurge tank 1. The air intake control valve 2 includes the valve body 21rotated about the rotation shaft line L1 between an open position (theposition of the valve body 21 illustrated in FIG. 7) at which the valvebody 21 is out of contact with the partition wall 4 and a closedposition (the position of the valve body illustrated in FIG. 8) at whichthe valve body 21 is in contact with the partition wall 4, to open andclose the fluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4. The air intakecontrol valve 2 includes a seal member 22 arranged at an outer peripheryof the valve body 21. In other words, in the air intake control valve 2according to the present embodiment, the valve body 21 is rotatablyattached directly to the surge tank 1, and no frame (body) or the liketo attach the valve body 21 to the surge tank 1 is provided. The valvebody 21 is so configured that both a first end portion 21 a and a secondend portion 21 b thereof in a direction (the direction Y) in which therotation shaft line L1 extends are rotatably supported by the surge tank1 (the middle piece 103).

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the valve body 21 has an outer shapesymmetric with respect to both the rotation shaft line L1 and acenterline C1 in a direction orthogonal to the rotation shaft line L1 ina state where both the first end portion 21 a and the second end portion21 b are rotatably supported by the surge tank 1. Furthermore, the valvebody 21 has the outer shape corresponding to the fluid passage 41 (referto FIG. 4) in a plan view. In the valve body 21, tapered portions 21 cand 21 d tapered towards the tips of the first end portion 21 a and thesecond end portion 21 b are provided in vicinities of the first endportion 21 a and the second end portion 21 b, respectively.

The valve body 21 is made of resin. As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, therotation shaft 23 made of metal (stainless steel, aluminum alloy, or thelike, for example) rotating together with the valve body 21 isintegrally provided at the first end portion 21 a of the valve body 21.As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 9, a first shaft bearing 24 made of metal(stainless steel, aluminum alloy, or the like, for example) rotatingtogether with the valve body 21 is integrally provided at the second endportion 21 b of the valve body 21. The rotation shaft 23 and the firstshaft bearing 24 each made of metal are insert-molded to be integralwith the valve body 21 when the valve body 21 is resin-molded.

Specifically, a rotation shaft holding portion 211 is formed at thefirst end portion 21 a (the Y2 side) of the valve body 21, and therotation shaft 23 is held by the rotation shaft holding portion 211. Ashaft bearing holding portion 212 is formed at the second end portion 21b (the Y1 side) of the valve body 21, and the first shaft bearing 24 isheld by the shaft bearing holding portion 212. As illustrated in FIGS. 6and 11, the rotation shaft holding portion 211 is so configured that anend surface 211 a of the rotation shaft holding portion 211 at the Y2direction side is opposed to and is in contact with an end surface 13 bof the actuator attach portion 160 at the Y1 direction side in a statewhere the valve body 21 is rotatably supported by the surge tank 1. Asillustrated in FIGS. 9 and 11, the shaft bearing holding portion 212 isso configured that an end surface 212 a of the shaft bearing holdingportion 212 at the Y1 direction side is opposed to and is in contactwith an end surface 42 a of the shaft member fixing portion 42 at the Y2direction side.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the rotation shaft 23 includes a thin shaftportion 231, a thick shaft portion 232 having an outer diameter largerthan an outer diameter of the thin shaft portion 231, and a held portion233 held by the rotation shaft holding portion 211, in this order from atip portion of the rotation shaft 23 projecting from the valve body 21towards a base portion of the rotation shaft 23. As illustrated in FIG.6, the rotation shaft 23 is rotatably supported by a cylindrical secondshaft bearing 213 fixed to the actuator attach portion 160 of the middlepiece 103. In a state where the rotation shaft 23 is inserted in therotation shaft support hole 131 of the actuator attach portion 160, thesecond shaft bearing 213 is press-fitted into a clearance between anouter peripheral surface 232 a of the thick shaft portion 232 of therotation shaft 23 and an inner peripheral surface 131 d of the smalldiameter portion 131 a of the rotation shaft support hole 131 to beattached. Thus, the rotation shaft 23 is rotatably supported by thesecond shaft bearing 213. The second shaft bearing 213 is made of metal(stainless steel, aluminum alloy, or the like, for example), and coatingto reduce a sliding resistance with the outer peripheral surface 232 aof the thick shaft portion 232 of the rotation shaft 23 is applied to aninner peripheral surface 213 a of the second shaft bearing 213.

In the medium diameter portion 131 b that is at an outer side relativeto the small diameter portion 131 a of the rotation shaft support hole131 which is mounted with the second shaft bearing 213, a rotation shaftsealing member 214 is attached to a clearance between an outerperipheral surface 231 a of the thin shaft portion 231 of the rotationshaft 23 and an inner peripheral surface 131 e of the medium diameterportion 131 b of the rotation shaft support hole 131. The rotation shaftsealing member 214 includes an annular inward projecting portion 214 awhich projects inward and is annularly provided on an outer periphery ofthe thin shaft portion 231 of the rotation shaft 23, and an outwardprojecting portion 214 b projecting outward. The thin shaft portion 231of the rotation shaft 23 is so configured that the outer peripheralsurface 231 a thereof comes into line contact with the annular inwardprojecting portion 214 a. The annular rotation shaft sealing member 214includes a U-shaped cross-section and is provided in a state where theopen side of the U-shape faces an outside of the surge tank 1 (the Y2side). The outward projecting portion 214 b is configured to annularlycome into surface contact with the inner peripheral surface 131 e of themedium diameter portion 131 b of the rotation shaft support hole 131.Due to the above-described configuration, outside air moving inward fromthe outside of the surge tank 1 can be effectively sealed or blocked.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the rotation shaft 23 is provided to projectoutward from the actuator attach portion 160 in a state where the valvebody 21 is rotatably attached to the surge tank 1. A shaft attachportion 120 a of the actuator 120 rotating the rotation shaft 23 ismounted on a portion (a region in the vicinity of an end portion of thethin shaft portion 231 at the Y2 side) of the rotation shaft 23 whichprojects outward from the actuator attach portion 160. That is, at theoutside of the surge tank 1, the actuator 120 is fixed to the actuatorattach portion 160.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the first shaft bearing 24 is configured to berotatably supported by the shaft member 215 fixed to the shaft memberfixing portion 42 of the partition wall 4. The shaft member 215 is madeof metal (stainless steel, aluminum alloy, or the like, for example) andincludes a slide portion 215 a sliding relative to the first shaftbearing 24 and a press-fitted portion 215 b including an outer diameterlarger than an outer diameter of the slide portion 215 a. Thepress-fitted portion 215 b having the enlarged outer diameter ispress-fitted into the bush member 422 made of metal and provided at theshaft member support hole 421, whereby the shaft member 215 is fixed tothe shaft member fixing portion 42. Coating to reduce a slidingresistance with an outer peripheral surface 215 c of the slide portion215 a is applied to an inner peripheral surface 24 a of the first shaftbearing 24.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, at a front side and a rear side of the valvebody 21, plural transverse ribs 216 a each extending in the directionorthogonal to the rotation shaft line L1 and plural longitudinal ribs216 b connecting the plural transverse ribs 216 a to each other areintegrally formed. The transverse ribs 216 a in the vicinity of acentral portion of the valve body 21 in a lengthwise direction thereof(the direction Y) are formed to extend to the vicinities of both endportions of the valve body 21 in a direction (a direction X) that isorthogonal to the lengthwise direction. The farther away from thecentral portion in the lengthwise direction towards both end portions ofthe valve body 21 in the lengthwise direction, the shorter the lengthsof the horizontal ribs 216 a are. Thus, the transverse ribs 216 a in thecentral portion of the valve body 21 in the lengthwise direction areformed to elongate in the direction X, whereby a mechanical strength ofthe central portion of the valve body 21 in the lengthwise direction isenhanced.

The seal member 22 is made of an elastic member (rubber, for example)and is configured to provide a seal between the partition wall 4 and thevalve body 21 by coming into contact with the partition wall 4 of thesurge tank 1 at the closed position of the valve body 21. Specifically,as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the seal member 22 is configured tocome into contact with the sealing surfaces 411 a and 412 a providedalong the edge portions of the fluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4.The seal member 22 includes a protruding portion 221 protruding towardsthe sealing surfaces 411 a and 412 a. As illustrated in FIG. 8, at theclosed position of the valve body 21, the seal member 22 provides sealbetween the partition wall 4 and the valve body 21 in a state where theprotruding portion 221 is in contact with the sealing surfaces 411 a and412 a and the protruding portion 221 is pressed and crushed between thepartition wall 4 and the valve body 21. As will be described later indetail, the middle piece 103 with the valve body 21 attached thereto isjoined to the lower piece 102 and to the upper piece 101 by theappropriate manufacturing process, and therefore the seal member 22arranged at the outer periphery of the valve body 21 comes in reliablycontact with the sealing surface 411 a provided along the edge portion411 of the fluid passage 41 and with the sealing surface 412 a providedalong the edge portion 412 of the fluid passage 41 over an entire areaof the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a. Thus, the seal member 22 is soconfigured to reliably seal the fluid passage 41.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the actuator 120 is attached to an endsurface of the actuator attach portion 160 at the Y2 side with screwmembers 9, for example, two of the screw members 9 (refer to FIG. 3).When the actuator attach portion 160 is viewed from a lateral side asillustrated in FIG. 12, a jig-receiving portion 161 is provided at theactuator attach portion 160, around the rotation shaft support hole 131penetrating a central portion (the rotation shaft line L1) of theactuator attach portion 160 in the direction Y. The jig-receivingportion 161 includes plural (for example, five) jig-insertion holes 161a, 161 b, 161 c, 161 d and 161 e. The jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 eare separated from one another by an inner peripheral wall 131 f of therotation shaft support hole 131, by ribs 132 each including apredetermined thickness and extending from the inner peripheral wall 131f radially outwardly, and by an outer peripheral wall 131 g forming anouter shape of the actuator attach portion 160 and including apredetermined thickness.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the jig-insertion hole 161 d is extended fromthe end surface portion of the actuator attach portion 160 at the Y2side along a direction of the arrow Y1 to a position corresponding tothe position of the joint portion 103 a. Similarly, the jig-insertionhole 161 b is extended from the end surface portion of the actuatorattach portion 160 at the Y2 side along the direction of the arrow Y1 toa position corresponding to the position of the joint portion 103 b.Each of the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e is extended to theabove-described depth position (towards the Y1 side). The direction (thedirection Y) in which the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e areextended is a direction orthogonal to a joining direction (the directionZ) in which the upper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middlepiece 103 are joined to one another.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, when the lower piece 102forming the second surge tank region 12 (the Z2 side) is being joined tothe middle piece 103 in the direction Z by the vibration welding in themanufacturing process, the jig-receiving portion 161 (assembly structureincluding the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e) of the actuator attachportion 160 receives thereat a jig 201 (refer to FIG. 15) holding themiddle piece 103. In addition, when the upper piece 101 forming thefirst surge tank region 11 (the Z1 side) is being joined to the middlepiece 103 by the vibration welding in the manufacturing process, thejig-receiving portion 161 receives thereat a jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16)holding the middle piece 103. Each of the jig 201 and the jig 202 servesas “the jig of the present disclosure.

From among the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e, each of thejig-insertion hole 161 a and the jig-insertion hole 161 b is soconfigured that an insertion portion 201 a (refer to FIG. 15) of the jig201 (refer to FIG. 15) used when joining the lower piece 102 to themiddle piece 103 is inserted into each of the jig-insertion hole 161 aand the jig-insertion hole 161 b. Each of the jig-insertion hole 101 cto the jig-insertion hole 101 e is so configured that an insertionportion 202 a (refer to FIG. 16) of the jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16) usedwhen joining the upper piece 101 to the middle piece 103 is insertedinto each of the jig-insertion hole 101 c to the jig-insertion hole 101e. At this time, the insertion portion 201 a of the jig 201 is insertedto bottom portions (the Y1 side) of the jig-insertion holes 161 a and161 b each extended to the position corresponding to the position wherethe joint portion 103 b is formed. In addition, the insertion portion202 a of the jig 202 is inserted to bottom portions (the Y1 side) of thejig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e each extended to the positioncorresponding to the position where the joint portion 103 a is formed.The jig-insertion hole 161 a and the jig-insertion hole 161 b serve asan example of “a second jig-insertion hole” of the present disclosureand the jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161 d and 161 e serve as an exampleof “a first jig-insertion hole” of the present disclosure.

According to the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, ajig-receiving surface 4 a including a flat surface is formed at thepartition wall 4 of the middle piece 103. The jig-receiving surface 4 ais formed at the Z1 side (the front side of the paper surface on whichFIG. 4 is drawn at which the first surge tank region 11 is arranged) ofthe partition wall 4 to surround the fluid passage 41 serving as theopening portion. The jig-receiving surface 4 a functions as thejig-receiving portion directly receiving the jig 201 (refer to FIG. 15).In addition, the jig-receiving surface 4 a is arranged at an outer siderelative to the seal surface 412 a (the seal surface 411 a) with whichthe seal member 22 of the valve body 21 which is arranged along the edgeportion 412 (the edge portion 411) of the fluid passage 41 is incontact. That is, a half of the jig-receiving surface 4 a with respectto the rotation shaft line L1 is constituted by an upper surface (the Z1side) of the edge portion 411 which is formed by a flat surface. Thelatter half of the jig-receiving surface 4 a is constituted by an uppersurface (the Z1 side) of the edge portion 412 which is formed by a flatsurface. Thus, it is so configured that the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 can be joined to each other in a state where thejig-receiving surface 4 a formed by the flat surfaces is directlysupported from below by a support portion 201 b (refer to FIG. 15) ofthe jig 201. In a plan view, the support portion 201 b of the jig 201 isformed in a shape corresponding to a shape of the jig-receiving surface4 a that is formed in a shape of an elongated hole (a track-shape or anelliptic shape) except for vicinities of the rotation shaft line L1.That is, the support portion 201 b of the jig 201 is configured to be insurface contact with the jig-receiving surface 4 a circumferentially andcontinuously except for the vicinities of the rotation shaft line L1.

In the present embodiment, the jig-receiving portion 161 (thejig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e) provided at the actuator attachportion 160 of the middle piece 103 is utilized as the receiving portionreceiving the jigs 201 and 202. Thus, the air intake apparatus body 105can be manufactured by joining the lower piece 102 and the upper piece101 to the middle piece 103 in a manner that after-forming designdimensions of the surge tank 1, that is, design dimensions of the surgetank 1 after the surge tank 1 is formed, is obtained or satisfied.Further, when the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 are beingjoined to each other, the jig-receiving surface 4 a of the partitionwall 4 is supported from below by the jig 201, in addition to thejig-receiving portion 161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b).That is, even in a case where curvature or warp deformation (individualdifferences) which deviates from the design dimensions is generated ateach of the upper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece103 (in particular, at the joint portions 101 a, 102 a, 103 a and 103 b)when the upper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103are resin-molded, the middle piece 103 is vibration-welded to the lowerpiece 102 in a state where a predetermined shape or configuration of themiddle piece 103 is maintained (corrected) by the jig 201 (refer to FIG.15) and the middle piece 103 is vibration-welded to the upper piece 101in a state where the predetermined shape of the middle piece 103 ismaintained (corrected) by the jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16).

Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is restricted that thelower piece 102 and the upper piece 101 are joined to the middle piece103 to form the surge tank 1 in a state where strain deformationexceeding an allowable value is generated and remains thereat, such astrain deformation attributes to the curvature or warp deformationoccurring at each of the members. In addition, because the partitionwall 4 (the jig-receiving surface 4 a) around the fluid passage 41 isalso supported from below by the support portion 201 b (refer to FIG.15) of the jig 201 at the same time as the jig-insertion holes 161 a and161 b of the actuator attach portion 160 receive thereat the insertionportion 201 a, it is effectively restricted that deflection deformationincluding curvature and/or torsion is generated at the region of theseal surfaces 411 a and 412 a of the partition wall 4 due to the way ofload application during the vibration welding. Accordingly, in the surgetank 1 after the air intake apparatus body 105 is formed, the sealmember 22 of the valve body 21 is reliably in contact with the sealsurfaces 411 a and 412 a over the entire region of the seal surfaces 411a and 412 a. Further, the rotation shaft line L1 is not distorted orstrained, and thus the air intake control valve 2 rotates smoothly.

Next, the manufacturing process of the air intake apparatus 100 will beexplained with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 11 to 16. First, a processor step of attaching the air intake control valve 2 to the middle piece103 will be explained. Thereafter, a process or step of assembling theentire air intake apparatus body 105 in a state where the air intakecontrol valve 2 is attached to or incorporated in the middle piece 103will be explained.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 13, in a state where the rotation shaft 23and the first shaft bearing 24 are integrally provided at the first endportion 21 a and the second end portion 21 b of the valve body 21,respectively and the seal member 22 is attached to the outer peripheryof the valve body 21, the thin shaft portion 231 of the rotation shaft23 is inserted into the rotation shaft support hole 131 to which thesecond shaft bearing 213 has not been attached yet, while the valve body21 is being inclined relative to the middle piece 103. Because an outerdiameter of the thin shaft portion 231 of the rotation shaft 23 issmaller than an outer diameter of the thick shaft portion 232, asufficient clearance is obtained between the thin shaft portion 231 andthe inner peripheral surface 131 d of the small diameter portion 131 aof the rotation shaft support hole 131 at this time, and also aclearance corresponding to a plate thickness (approximately 1 mm, forexample) of the second shaft bearing 213 is obtained between the thickshaft portion 232 of the rotation shaft 23 and the inner peripheralsurface 131 d of the small diameter portion 131 a of the rotation shaftsupport hole 131. Therefore, the rotation shaft 23 can be easilyinserted into the rotation shaft support hole 131 of the middle piece103, while the valve body 21 is being inclined or tilted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, in a state where the rotation shaft23 at the first end portion 21 a of the valve body 21 is inserted in therotation shaft support hole 131, the second end portion 21 b providedwith the first shaft bearing 24 is inserted into the fluid passage 41while the valve body 21 is inclined. Thus, the rotation shaft holdingportion 211 of the valve body 21 is opposed to and comes into contactwith the actuator attach portion 160 of the middle piece 103, and theshaft bearing holding portion 212 is opposed to and comes into contactwith the shaft member fixing portion 42 of the partition wall 4.

Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the second shaft bearing 213 ispress-fitted into the clearance between the outer peripheral surface 232a (refer to FIG. 6) of the thick shaft portion 232 of the rotation shaft23 and the inner peripheral surface 131 d of the small diameter portion131 a of the rotation shaft support hole 131 at the side of the firstend portion 21 a of the valve body 21. Then, the annular rotation shaftsealing member 214 is fitted into the clearance between the outerperipheral surface 231 a (refer to FIG. 6) of the thin shaft portion 231of the rotation shaft 23 and the inner peripheral surface 131 e of themedium diameter portion 131 b of the rotation shaft support hole 131.Thereafter, at the side of the second end portion 21 b of the valve body21, the shaft member 215 is slid along the rotation shaft line L1 of thevalve body 21 (along the direction Y) while an internal space of theconcave escape portion 43 of the partition wall 4 is being utilized forthe insertion of the shaft member 215, and the press-fitted portion 215b is press-fitted into the bush member 422 integrally provided at theshaft member fixing portion 42. At this time, the shaft member 215 isinserted from the side of the slide portion 215 a, and is pushed towardsthe Y2 direction side until the slide portion 215 a reaches a positioncorresponding to the first shaft bearing 24 of the valve body 21. Thus,both the first end portion 21 a and the second end portion 21 b of thevalve body 21 are supported to be rotatable relative to the middle piece103. Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 11, from the outside of thesurge tank 1, the shaft attach portion 120 a of the actuator 120configured to rotate the rotation shaft 23 is attached to a portion ofthe rotation shaft 23 projecting outwardly from the actuator attachportion 160. In this manner, the air intake control valve 2 is attachedto the middle piece 103.

Next, the lower piece 102 is joined to the middle piece 103 to which theair intake control valve 2 is attached. Specifically, as illustrated inFIG. 15, in a state where the lower piece 102 is inverted in the up/downdirection so as to be arranged in an orientation opposite to the stateillustrated in FIG. 12, the lower piece 102 is attached to the jig 203(drawn with double-dotted lines). The jig 203 is fixed to the lowerpiece 102 to support an outer side (an outer peripheral portion) of thejoint portion 102 a, which is formed in the annular shape, along theentire circumference of the joint portion 102 a. Then, in a state wherethe joint portion 103 b of the middle piece 103 faces the lower piece102, the middle piece 103 is attached to the jig 201 (drawn withdouble-dotted lines). At this time, the insertion portion 201 a of thejig 201 is inserted into the jig-insertion hole 161 a and thejig-insertion hole 161 b of the jig-receiving portion 161 of theactuator attach portion 160. The insertion portion 201 a is inserted tothe positions in the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b whichcorrespond to the position (refer to FIG. 5) where the joint portion 103b is formed. The jig 201 is fixed to the middle piece 103 in a mannerthat the support portion 201 b directly supports the jig-receivingsurface 4 a from below (from the Z1 side) and that the jig 201 supportsan outer side (an outer peripheral portion) of the joint portion 103 b,which is formed in the annular shape, along the entire circumference ofthe joint portion 103 b from below (from the Z1 side).

Then, the middle piece 103 is moved upward from below in a direction ofthe arrow Z2 so that the joint portion 103 b of the middle piece 103 andthe joint portion 102 a of the lower piece 102 face each other. In astate where the joint portion 103 b is in surface contact with the jointportion 102 a, the middle piece 103 (the Z1 side) is pushed against thelower piece 102 (the Z2 side) with a predetermined load (pressingforce). In this state, the lower piece 102 is vibrated in a direction ordirections in a horizontal plane for a predetermined time period(approximately 5 seconds, for example) while the middle piece 103 iskept static. Thus, the joint surfaces of the respective joint portion103 b and the joint portion 102 a are rubbed against each other, thatis, are in friction with each other, thereby generating frictional heatby which the joint portion 103 b and the joint portion 102 a are weldedto each other. Accordingly, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102are joined to each other. As a result, in FIG. 12, a structural body inwhich the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 are joined to eachother is formed.

At this time, in a state where the predetermined shape of the middlepiece 103 is maintained by the jig 201 and the predetermined shape ofthe lower piece 102 is maintained by the jig 203, the joint portion 103b and the joint portion 102 a are welded to each other. In particular,at the portion of the partition wall 4 around the fluid passage 41 (thejig-receiving surface 4 a formed in the annular shape), flatness orevenness is maintained without including the deflection deformation.Thus, flatness or evenness (a degree of parallelization relative to theseal member 22) is maintained at each of the seal surface 411 a of theedge portion 411 and the seal surface 412 a of the edge portion 412 ofthe fluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4 in a state where the valvebody 21 is attached to the partition wall 4. Further, a shape of a spaceportion of the second surge tank region 12 (at the Z2 side in FIG. 12)is formed without deflection deforming occurring at the rotation shaftline L1 rotating the valve body 21. Thereafter, the jig 201 and the jig203 are removed from the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102.

Next, the upper piece 101 is joined to the middle piece 103 to which thelower piece 102 has been joined in advance. Specifically, as illustratedin FIG. 16, the upper piece 101 is attached to the jig 204 (drawn withdouble-dotted lines). The jig 204 is fixed to the upper piece 101 tosupport an outer side (an outer peripheral portion) of the joint portion101 a, which is formed in the annular shape, along the entirecircumference of the joint portion 101 a. Then, in a state where thejoint portion 103 a of the middle piece 103 faces the upper piece 101,the middle piece 103 is attached to the jig 202 (drawn withdouble-dotted lines). At this time, the insertion-portion 202 a of thejig 202 is inserted into the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e of thejig-receiving portion 161 of the actuator attach portion 160. Theinsertion portion 202 a is inserted to the portions at the jig-insertionholes 161 c to 161 e which correspond to the position (refer to FIG. 5)where the joint portion 103 a is formed. The jig 202 is fixed to themiddle piece 103 to support the outer side (an outer peripheral portion)of the joint portion 103 a, which is formed in the annular shape, alongthe entire circumference of the joint portion 103 a.

Then, the middle piece 103 is moved upward from below in a direction ofthe arrow Z1 so that the joint portion 103 a of the middle piece 103 andthe joint portion 101 a of the upper piece 101 face each other. In astate where the joint portion 103 a is in surface contact with the jointportion 101 a, the middle piece 103 (the Z2 side) is pushed against theupper piece 101 (the Z1 side) with a predetermined load (pressingforce). In this state, the upper piece 101 is vibrated in a direction ordirections in a horizontal plane for a predetermined time period(approximately 5 seconds, for example) while the middle piece 103 isbeing kept static. Thus, the joint surfaces of the respective jointportion 103 a and the joint portion 101 a are rubbed against each other,that is, are in friction with each other, thereby generating frictionalheat by which the joint portion 103 a and the joint portion 101 a arewelded to each other. As a result, the middle piece 103 and the upperpiece 101 are joined to each other.

At this time, in a state where the predetermined shape of the middlepiece 103 is maintained by the jig 202 and the predetermined shape ofthe upper piece 101 is maintained by the jig 204, the joint portion 103a and the joint portion 101 a are welded to each other. Also in thiscase, the flatness or evenness (a degree of parallelization relative tothe seal member 22) is maintained at each of the seal surface 411 a ofthe edge portion 411 and the seal surface 412 a of the edge portion 412of the fluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4 in a state where thevalve body 21 is attached to the partition wall 4 because the flatnessor evenness at the portion of the jig-receiving surface 4 a is alreadyobtained when the middle piece 103 is joined to the lower piece 102.Further, a shape of a space portion of the first surge tank region 11(at the Z1 side in FIG. 12) is formed without the deflection deformingoccurring at the rotation shaft line L1. Thereafter, the jig 202 and thejig 204 are removed from the middle piece 103 and the upper piece 101.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, first, thelower piece 102 including a relatively higher rigidity than the upperpiece 101, and the middle piece 103 are joined to each other.Thereafter, the upper piece 101 including a relatively lower rigiditythan the lower piece 102, and the middle piece 103, in a state where thelower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 are already joined to eachother, are joined to each other. Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 3, theactuator 120 is attached to the actuator attach portion 160 with the twoscrew members 9. As described above, the air intake apparatus body 105is assembled and the air intake apparatus 100 is manufactured. In thepresent embodiment, the lower piece 102 serves as one of the upper piece101 and the lower piece 102, and the upper piece 101 serves as the otherof the upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can beobtained.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, at the middlepiece 103 to which the valve body 21 is attached, the jig-receivingportion 161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b) and thejig-receiving surface 4 a are provided at the actuator attach portion160 and at the partition wall 4, respectively. The jig-receiving portion161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b) and the jig-receivingsurface 4 a are provided in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 and arefor receiving the jig 201 (refer to FIG. 15) holding the middle piece103 while the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 are being joinedto each other. In addition, the jig-receiving portion 161 (thejig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e) for receiving the jig 202 (refer toFIG. 16) holding the middle piece 103 while the middle piece 103 and theupper piece 101 are being joined to each other is provided at theactuator attach portion 160. According to the manufacturing process ofthe air intake apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the middle piece103 and the lower piece 102 are joined to each other by the vibrationwelding in a state where the jig-receiving portion 161 (thejig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b) and the jig-receiving surface 4 aare held by the jig 201. The middle piece 103 and the upper piece 101are joined to each other by the vibration welding in a state where thejig-receiving portion 161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e) isheld by the jig 202. Consequently, the air intake apparatus body 105 isformed.

Thus, when the upper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece103 are joined to each other to manufacture the air intake apparatusbody 105, the middle piece 103 can be joined to the lower piece 102 in astate where the middle piece 103 is held by the jig 201 via thejig-receiving portion 161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b) andthe jig-receiving surface 4 a which are provided in the vicinity of thefluid passage 41 of the partition wall 4. In addition, the middle piece103 can be joined to the upper piece 101 in a state where the middlepiece 103 is held by the jig 202 via the jig-receiving portion 161 (thejig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e). That is, the middle piece 103, andeach of the lower piece 102 and the upper piece 101 are joined to eachother to form the surge tank 1 while avoiding the deflection deformationsuch as warp and/or twist as much as possible at the portion of thepartition wall 4 (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) in the vicinity ofthe fluid passage 41. Thus, after the air intake apparatus body 105 ismanufactured, the flatness of the portion of the partition wall 4 (theseal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) at which the valve body 21 rotates ismaintained around the fluid passage 41, and therefore an appropriatesealing performance or sealability is ensured when the valve body 21 isat the closed position.

As described above, the present embodiment includes the air intakeapparatus body 105 including the surge tank 1, and the valve body 21rotatably attached to the surge tank 1 and rotating between the openposition where the valve body 21 is out of contact with the partitionwall 4 and the closed position where the valve body 21 is in contactwith the partition wall 4 to open and close the fluid passage 41 formedat the partition wall 4 dividing the inside of the surge tank 1 into thetwo parts. Accordingly, the fluid passage 41 formed at the partitionwall 4 is directly blocked or closed with the valve body 21 in a casewhere the valve body 21 rotates to the closed position, and accordinglythe opening portion formed at the partition wall 4 can be used as thefluid passage 41 as is, which is opened and closed with the valve body21. That is, according to the present embodiment, unlike a structurewhere a fluid passage formed at a frame-shaped body is opened and closedwith the valve body, a cross-sectional area of the fluid passage 41opened and closed by the valve body 21 is not narrower or smaller than across-sectional area of the opening portion formed at the partition wall4. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the fluid passage 41 can beincreased correspondingly. Consequently, in a case where the valve body21 is positioned at the open position to make the fluid communicationbetween the two space portions, pressure loss of the intake aircirculating through the fluid passage 41 can be reduced by the incrementof the cross-sectional area of the fluid passage 41, thereby increasingan amount of intake air circulating through the fluid passage 41, andtherefore a supercharging effect is enhanced. In addition, the airintake apparatus body 105 does not include the frame-shaped body (theframe) and/or a gasket provided at an outer peripheral surface of theframe-shaped body, and hence the number of components can be reduced tosimplify the structure and also simplify the assembling process of thevalve body 21.

According to the present embodiment, the middle piece 103 includes theactuator attach portion 160 for attaching the actuator 120 which rotatesthe valve body 21, and the jig-receiving portion 161 is provided at theactuator attach portion 160. In the manufacturing process of the airintake apparatus 100, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 arejoined to each other in a state where the jig-receiving portion 161 ofthe actuator attach portion 160 is held by the jig 201 (refer to FIG.15) and the middle piece 103 and the upper piece 101 are joined to eachother in a state where the jig-receiving portion 161 of the actuatorattach portion 160 is held by the jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16), wherebythe air intake apparatus body 105 is formed. Because the jig-receivingportion 161 (the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e) is provided at theactuator attach portion 160 that is relatively close to the fluidpassage 41, the jig-receiving portion 161 of the actuator attach portion160 is held by the jig 201 (the jig 202), and therefore the middle piece103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to eachother in a state where the portion of the partition wall 4 which is inthe vicinity of the fluid passage 41 is easily held. Accordingly, whenthe middle piece 103, and the lower piece 102 and the upper piece 101are being joined to each other, it is easily restricted that thedeflection deformation occurs at the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a whichare in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 and to which the valve body21 is in contact. In addition, because the actuator attach portion 160is held by the jig 201 (the jig 202), it is reliably restricted that therotation shaft support hole 131, into which the rotation shaft 23 of thevalve body 21 is inserted, is deflected and deformed (that is, crushedand thus deformed) when the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102(the upper piece 101) are being joined to each other.

According to the present embodiment, the actuator attach portion 160 isso configured to include the jig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b, 161 c,161 d, 161 e serving as the jig-receiving portion 161. Accordingly, byinserting the jig 201 or the jig 202 into the jig-insertion holes 161 a,161 b, 161 c, 161 d, 161 e that are provided at the actuator attachportion 160, the jig-receiving portion 161 of the actuator attachportion 160 is held by the jig 201 or the jig 202 easily in a simplemanner.

According to the present embodiment, the jig-receiving portion 161 is soconfigured to include the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e into whichthe insertion portion 202 a of the jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16) isinserted while the middle piece 103 and the upper piece 101 are beingjoined to each other and which are arranged at a side closer to theupper piece 101 than to the lower piece 102. In addition, thejig-receiving portion 161 is so configured to include the jig-insertionholes 161 a and 161 b into which the insertion portion 201 a of the jig201 (refer to FIG. 15) is inserted when the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 are being joined to each other and which are arranged ata side closer to the lower piece 102 than to the upper piece 101.Accordingly, when the upper piece 101 is being joined to the middlepiece 103 including the partition wall 4, the portion of thejig-receiving portion 161 (the middle piece 103) which is in thevicinity of the joined portion with the upper piece 101 is reliably heldvia the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e provided at the middle piece103 to be arranged closer relative to the upper piece 101. In addition,when the lower piece 102 is being joined to the middle piece 103, theportion of the jig-receiving portion 161 (the middle piece 103) which isin the vicinity of the joined portion with the lower piece 102 isreliably held via the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b provided atthe middle piece 103 to be arranged closer relative to the lower piece102.

According to the present embodiment, the middle piece 103 includes thepartition wall 4 dividing the inside of the surge tank 1 into the twoparts, and the partition wall 4 is provided with the jig-receivingsurface 4 a constituted by the flat surface surrounding the fluidpassage 41. The middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 are joined toeach other in a state where the jig-receiving surface 4 a constituted bythe flat surface is held by the support portion 201 b of the jig 201(refer to FIG. 15). Accordingly, the jig-receiving surface 4 aconstituted by the flat surface is supported directly by the supportportion 201 b of the jig 201, and thus the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 can be joined to each other in a state where thevicinity of the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a surrounding the fluidpassage 41 of the partition wall 4 is reliably held. Consequently, theseal surfaces 411 a and 412 a, which are in the vicinity of the fluidpassage 41 and with which the valve body 21 is in contact, are reliablyrestricted from being deflected or deformed when the middle piece 103and the lower piece 102 are being joined to each other.

According to the present embodiment, the jig-receiving surface 4 a isarranged at the outer side relative to the seal surface 412 a with whichthe seal member 22 of the valve body 21 is configured to be in contact.The seal member 22 is provided along the edge portion 412 of the fluidpassage 41. Accordingly, the lower piece 102 can be joined to the middlepiece 103 in a state where the jig-receiving surface 4 a at the outerside than the seal surface 412 a of the middle piece 103 is supported bythe support portion 201 b of the jig 201 without causing the supportportion 201 b of the jig 201 to be in contact with the seal surface 412a. Consequently, after the air intake apparatus body 105 is formed, theseal surface 412 a does not include, for example, a dent (trace or markmade by the application of load) caused by the support portion 201 b ofthe jig 201 and the flatness of the seal surface 412 a is maintained. Asa result, the sealability at the fluid passage 41 by the valve body 21is sufficiently ensured.

According to the present embodiment, each of the jig-insertion holes 161a to 161 e is formed to extend in the direction Y that is orthogonal tothe joining direction (the direction Z) in which the middle piece 103and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to each other.Accordingly, in a case where the middle piece 103 and the lower piece102 (the upper piece 101) are made to face each other in the direction Zand then to be joined to each other in the direction Z, thejig-insertion portion 201 a of the jig 201 (the jig-insertion portion202 a of the jig 202) can be inserted into the respective jig-insertionholes 161 a to 161 e from a lateral side (from the outer side) which isorthogonal to the joining direction. Consequently, the jig-receivingportion 161 (the actuator attach portion 160) of the middle piece 103 issupported easily in a simple manner when the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are being joined to each other.

According to the present embodiment, the middle piece 103 includes thejoint portion 103 b configured to be joined to the lower piece 102 andthe joint portion 103 a configured to be joined to the upper piece 101.The jig-receiving portion 161 is provided at the middle piece 103 sothat the jig 201 (the insertion portion 201 a) is received at theposition corresponding to the joint portion 103 b of the middle piece103 and that the jig 202 (the insertion portion 202 a) is received atthe position corresponding to the joint portion 103 a of the middlepiece 103. Accordingly, the jig 201 is arranged at the positioncorresponding to the joint portion 103 b of the middle piece 103 atwhich the middle piece 103 is joined to the lower piece 102, and the jig202 is arranged at the position corresponding to the joint portion 103 aof the middle piece 103 at which the middle piece 103 is joined to theupper piece 101. Consequently, the pressing force (a pressure-joiningforce) during the joining of the middle piece 103 and the lower piece102 (the upper piece 101) can be received at the side of the jig 201(the jig 202) appropriately via the jig-receiving portion 161. As aresult, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece101) are reliably joined to each other in a state where the jointportion 103 b (the joint portion 103 a) of the middle piece 103 isstably held by the jig 201 (the jig 202).

According to the manufacturing process of the air intake apparatus 100of the present embodiment, the air intake apparatus body 105 is formedin the following manner. The lower piece 102 of which the rigidity isrelatively high and the middle piece 103 which is in a state where thejig-receiving portion 161 is held by the jig 201 (refer to FIG. 15) arejoined to each other by the vibration welding. Thereafter, the upperpiece 101 of which the rigidity is relatively low and the middle piece103 is further joined to each other in a state where the lower piece 102of which the rigidity is relatively high and the middle piece 103 havebeen joined to each other and the jig-receiving portion 161 is held bythe jig 202 (refer to FIG. 16). Accordingly, the lower piece 102including the relatively high rigidity and an appropriate load-bearingperformance during the vibration-welding, and the middle piece 103including the partition wall 4 are joined to each other first so thatthe structural body including little or small distortion (that is, thestructure including the accurate design dimension) is obtained.Thereafter, the upper piece 101 including the relatively low rigidity isjoined to the above-described structural body including the little orsmall distortion (that is, the structural body including the accuratedesign dimension). Thus, the air intake apparatus body 105 is formed inthe above-described manner. Consequently, even in a case where the upperpiece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 are joined toone another by the vibration welding, the flatness is ensured at theportion of the partition wall 4 (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a)where the valve body 21 is rotated. Further, the air intake apparatusbody 105 including, after completion of the manufacture thereof, theaccurate design dimension is easily obtained.

According to the manufacturing process of the air intake apparatus 100of the present embodiment, in the process of forming the air intakeapparatus body 105, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 arejoined to each other by the vibration welding in a state where thejig-receiving surface 4 a of the middle piece 103, the jig-receivingsurface 4 a being constituted by the flat surface, is supported by thesupport portion 201 b of the jig 201 and where the insertion portion 201a of the jig 201 is inserted in the jig-insertion hole 161 a and thejig-insertion hole 161 b of the middle piece 103 (refer to FIG. 15).Thereafter, the middle piece 103 to which the lower piece 102 has beenjoined and the upper piece 101 are joined to each other by the vibrationwelding in a state where the insertion portion 202 a of the jig 202 isinserted in the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 e of the middle piece103 (refer to FIG. 16). Because the middle piece 103 is joined inadvance to the lower piece 102 including the relatively high rigidityand the appropriate load-bearing performance during thevibration-welding, the structural body including the little or smalldistortion (that is, the structural body including the accurate designdimension) is formed. While the middle piece 103 is being joined to thelower piece 102, the middle piece 103 is in a state where thejig-receiving surface 4 a is supported by the support portion 201 b ofthe jig 201 at the same time as the insertion portion 201 a of the jig201 is inserted into the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 b which arearranged at the middle piece 103 to be positioned at the side closer tothe lower piece 102, and thus the jig-receiving portion 161 in thevicinity of the joint portion with the lower piece 102 and thejig-receiving surface 4 a are reliably held or supported. Then, afterthe lower piece 102 is joined to the middle piece 103, the middle piece103 is joined to the upper piece 101 including the relatively lowrigidity. While the middle piece 103 is being joined to the upper piece101, the middle piece 103 is in a state where the insertion portion 202a of the jig 202 is inserted into the jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 ewhich are arranged at the middle piece 103 to be positioned at the sidecloser to the upper piece 101 and thus the portion of the jig-receivingportion 161 which is in the vicinity of the joined portion with theupper piece 101 is reliably held. Thus, the occurrence of the distortioncan be prevented or reduced. Consequently, even in a case where theupper piece 101, the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 are joinedto one another by the vibration welding, the flatness of the portion ofthe partition wall 4 (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) where the valvebody 21 rotates is ensured. Further, the air intake apparatus body 105including, after completion of the manufacture thereof, the accuratedesign dimension is easily obtained.

The embodiment disclosed here is considered as illustrative in allpoints and not restrictive. The range of the present disclosure isillustrated not by the above description of the embodiment but by thescope of claims, and all modifications within the meaning and rangeequivalent to the scope of the claims are included.

For example, while the example of applying “the air intake apparatus”according to the present disclosure to the V-type 6-cylinder engine foran automobile is illustrated in the aforementioned embodiment, thepresent disclosure is not restricted to this. The air intake apparatusaccording to the present disclosure may be applied to aninternal-combustion engine other than an engine for an automobile, orthe air intake apparatus according to the present disclosure may beapplied to a V-type multi-cylinder engine other than the V-type6-cylinder engine and/or to an inline or straight engine or the like.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example is described where thefirst surge tank region 11 and the second surge tank region 12 which areseparated from each other by the partition wall 4 are arranged to beparallel to each other (adjacent to each other) in the up/down direction(the vertical direction), however, the present disclosure is notrestricted to this. According to the present disclosure, the first surgetank region 11 and the second surge tank region 12 may be arrangedparallel to each other (adjacent to each other) in the horizontaldirection, or the first surge tank region 11 and the second surge tankregion 12 may be arranged parallel to each other (adjacent to eachother) in a direction other than the vertical direction and thehorizontal direction.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example of integrally providingthe rotation shaft 23 at the first end portion 21 a (the end portion inthe Y2 direction) of the valve body 21 and integrally providing thefirst shaft bearing 24 at the second end portion 21 b (the end portionin the Y1 direction) of the valve body 21 is illustrated, however, thepresent disclosure is not restricted to this. According to the presentdisclosure, the first shaft bearing 24 may be integrally provided at thefirst end portion 21 a of the valve body 21, and the rotation shaft 23may be integrally provided at the second end portion 21 b of the valvebody 21. Alternatively, the rotation shaft 23 may be integrally providedat each of the first end portion 21 a of the valve body 21 and thesecond end portion 21 b of the valve body 21.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example where the valve body 21 ismade of resin and each of the rotation shaft 23, the first shaft bearing24, the second shaft bearing 213, the shaft member 215, and the bushmember 422 is made of metal, however, the present disclosure is notrestricted to this. According to the present disclosure, the valve body21 may be made of a material other than resin, including metal, or eachof the rotation shaft 23, the first shaft bearing 24, the second shaftbearing 213, the shaft member 215, and the bush member 422 may be madeof a material other than metal, including resin, for example.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example of the concave escapeportion 43 formed to be concave downward (towards the Z2 direction side)is illustrated, however, the present disclosure is not restricted tothis. According to the present disclosure, a concave escape portion 243may be formed to be concave upward (towards a Z1 direction side) so thatan inner surface 243 a of the concave escape portion 243 includes aconvex shape on the upper side, as in a modification illustrated in FIG.17. According to the above-described configuration, an extraneousmaterial or foreign matters such as oil can be inhibited fromaccumulating in the concave escape portion 243, and hence the valve body21 can be inhibited from being unstably rotated in the opening andclosing operation of the valve body 21 due to accumulation of theextraneous material such as oil. Furthermore, even in a case where theconcave escape portion 43 is formed to be concave downward (towards theZ2 direction side) as in the aforementioned embodiment, the extraneousmaterial such as oil can be inhibited from accumulating in the concaveescape portion 43 by reducing (shallowing) the depth of the concaveescape portion.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example where the jig-insertionholes 161 a to 161 e of the actuator attach portion 160 and thejig-receiving surface 4 a of the partition wall 4 serve as “thejig-receiving portion” of the present disclosure which are provided atthe middle piece 103. However, the present disclosure is not restrictedthereto. For example, when the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102are being joined to each other, the vibration welding may be performedin a state where a portion of the jig 201 is in contact also with theconcave escape portion 43 of the partition wall 4. That is, the escapeportion 43 may be used as “the jig-receiving portion” of the presentdisclosure.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example of joining the lower piece102 to the middle piece 103, and then joining the upper piece 101 to themiddle piece 103 in this order to form the air intake apparatus 105,however, the present disclosure is not restricted thereto. That is, in acase where the upper piece 101 includes a relatively higher rigidity,the upper piece 101 may be joined to the middle piece 103, and then thelower piece 102 may be joined to the middle piece 103 in this order toform the air intake apparatus 105. In this case, the middle piece 103may be so configured that “the jig-receiving surface” of the presentdisclosure is arranged at the side of the partition wall 4, the sidewhich faces the lower piece 102.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example where the jig-insertionholes 161 c, 161 d and 161 e constitute “the first jig-insertion hole”of the present disclosure, and the jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 bconstitute “the second jig-insertion hole” of the present disclosure,however, the present disclosure is not restricted thereto. That is, thenumber of “the first jig-insertion hole” and “the second jig-insertionhole” of the present disclosure may be a number other than the numbersdescribed above.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the example is illustrated where theactuator attach portion 160 of the middle piece 103 is held from theinner side of the surge tank 1 in a manner that the jig 201 (thejig-insertion portion 201 a) or the jig 202 (the jig insertion portion202 a) is inserted in the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e when thelower piece 102 is being joined to the middle piece 103 and then whenthe upper piece 101 is being joined to the middle piece 103sequentially, however, the present disclosure is not restricted thereto.For example, in addition to that the jig (the jig-insertion portion) isinserted into the jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e, a holding portionconfigured to circumferentially hold the outer peripheral wall 131 g ofthe actuator attach portion 160 (refer to FIG. 12) may be provided atthe jig 201 and/or the jig 202. That is, the lower piece 102 and theupper piece 101 may be joined to the middle piece 103 sequentially in astate where the middle piece 103 is held with the use of the jigconfigured to hold the actuator attach portion 160 at both the innerside and the outer side of the surge tank 1. Thus, the upper piece 101,the lower piece 102 and the middle piece 103 can be joined to oneanother in a manner that the deformation is even more restricted fromoccurring at the portion of the partition wall 4 around the fluidpassage 41 when the surge tank 1 is formed (vibration-welded).Accordingly, the flatness of the portion of the partition wall 4 wherethe valve body 21 is rotated (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) can bemaintained more effectively around the fluid passage 41. In addition,the rotation shaft line L1 is effectively prevented from beingdistorted.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the air intake apparatus 100includes the air intake apparatus body 105 including the surge tank 1for the V-type 6-cylinder engine 10, the valve body 21 rotatablyattached to the surge tank 1 and configured to rotate between the openposition and the closed position to open and close the fluid passage 41formed at the partition wall 4 dividing the inside of the surge tank 1into the two parts. The valve body 21 is out of contact with thepartition wall 4 at the open position and is in contact with thepartition wall 4 at the closed position. The air intake apparatus body105 is formed by the middle piece 103 (the first member) to which thevalve body 21 is attached and the upper piece 101 and the lower piece102 (the second member) joined to each other, and the middle piece 103includes the jig-receiving portions 161 and 4 a arranged in the vicinityof the fluid passage 41 and configured to receive the jigs 201 and 202holding the middle piece 103 when the middle piece 103 and the upperpiece 101 (the lower piece 102) are being joined to each other.

According to the above-described configuration, the jig-receivingportions 161 and 4 a arranged in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41for receiving the jigs 201 and 202 holding the middle piece 103 when themiddle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are beingjoined to each other is provided at the middle piece 103 to which thevalve body 21 is attached. Accordingly, when the upper piece 101 (thelower piece 102) and the middle piece 103 are being joined to each otherto manufacture the air intake apparatus body 105, the middle piece 103can be joined to the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) in a statewhere the middle piece 103 is held by the jig 201 (the jig 202) via thejig-receiving portion 161, 4 a provided in the vicinity of the fluidpassage 41 of the partition wall 4. That is, the middle piece 103 andthe lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to each other toform the surge tank 1 while avoiding, as much as possible, thedeflection deformation such as the warp and/or twist at the portion ofthe partition wall 4 (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) in the vicinityof the fluid passage 41. Consequently, after the air intake apparatusbody 105 is manufactured, the flatness of the portion of the partitionwall 4 (the seal portion) where the valve body 21 is rotated ismaintained around the fluid passage 41, and therefore the appropriatesealing performance or sealability is ensured when the valve body 21 isat the closed position.

In addition, according to the above-described configuration, the airintake apparatus 100 includes the air intake apparatus body 105including the surge tank 1, the valve body 21 rotatably attached to thesurge tank 1 and configured to rotate between the open position and theclosed position to open and close the fluid passage 41 formed at thepartition wall 4 dividing the inside of the surge tank 1 into the twoparts. The valve body 21 is out of contact with the partition wall 4 atthe open position and is in contact with the partition wall 4 at theclosed position. Accordingly, by rotating the valve body 21, the fluidpassage 41 formed at the partition wall 4 is directly blocked or closed.That is, the opening portion formed at the partition wall 4 can beutilized, as is, as the fluid passage 41 opened and closed with thevalve body 21, whereby the cross-sectional area of the fluid passage 41can be increased accordingly. Thus, in a case where the valve body 21rotates to the open position to establish the fluid communicationbetween the two space portions, the pressure loss of the intake aircirculating or flowing through the fluid passage 41 is reduced and theamount of intake air flowing through the fluid passage 41 is increased,and therefore the supercharging effect is enhanced.

According to the air intake apparatus 100 of the present disclosure, asdescribed above, in a case where the valve body 21 is at the openposition, the amount of intake air that flows or circulates through thefluid passage 41 allowing the fluid communication between the two spaceportions within the surge tank 1 is increased, and therefore thesupercharging effect is enhanced. Further, the appropriate sealingperformance or sealability is ensured in a case where the valve body 21is at the closed position.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the first member 103includes the actuator attach portion 160 to which the actuator 120rotating the valve body 21 is configured to be attached, thejig-receiving portion 161 is provided at the actuator attach portion160, and the air intake apparatus body 105 is formed by the middle piece103, and the upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102 that are joined toeach other in a state where the jig-receiving portion 161 of theactuator attach portion 160 is held by the jigs 201 and 202.

According to the above-described configuration, the jig-receivingportion 161 is provided at the portion of the actuator attach portion160 that is relatively close to the fluid passage 41. Consequently,because the jig-receiving portion 161 of the actuator attach portion 160is held by the jig 201 and 202, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to each other in a state where theportion in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 is easily held. As aresult, the seal portion (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) with whichthe valve body 21 is configured to be in contact is easily restrictedfrom being deflected or deformed while the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are being joined to each other.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the actuator attach portion160 includes the jig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b, 161 c, 161 d, 161 eserving as the jig-receiving portion 161.

According to the above-described configuration, by inserting the jigs201 and 202 into the corresponding jig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 ethat are provided at the actuator attach portion 160, the jig-receivingportion 161 of the actuator attach portion 160 is easily held by thejigs 201 and 202.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the first member correspondsto the middle piece 103 including the partition wall 4 dividing theinside of the surge tank 1 into the two parts, the second membercorresponds to the upper piece 101 arranged at the upper surface side ofthe partition wall 4 and the lower piece 102 arranged at the lowersurface side of the partition wall 4, the jig-insertion holes 161 a, 161b, 161 c, 161 d, 161 e include the first jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161d, 161 e into which the jig 202 is inserted when the middle piece 103and the upper piece 101 are being joined to each other, and the secondjig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b into which the jig 201 is inserted whenthe middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 are being joined to eachother. The first jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161 d, 161 e are arranged atthe side which is closer to the upper piece 101 than to the lower piece102, and the second jig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b are arranged at theside which is closer to the lower piece 102 than to the upper piece 101.

According to the above-described configuration, when the upper piece 101is being joined to the middle piece 103 including the partition wall 4,the portion of the jig-receiving portion 161 (the middle piece 103)which is in the vicinity of the joined portion with the upper piece 101is reliably held via the first jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 earranged in the middle piece 103, at the side closer to the upper piece101. In addition, when the lower piece 102 is being joined to the middlepiece 103, the portion of the jig-receiving portion 161 (the middlepiece 103) which is in the vicinity of the joined portion with the lowerpiece 102 is reliably held via the second jig-insertion holes 161 a and161 b arranged in the middle piece 103, at the side closer to the lowerpiece 102.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the middle piece 103includes the partition wall 4 dividing the inside of the surge tank 1into the two parts, the jig-receiving portion 4 a includes thejig-receiving surface 4 a including the flat surface surrounding thefluid passage 41 formed at the partition wall 4, and the middle piece103 and the lower piece 102 are joined to each other in a state wherethe jig-receiving surface 4 a including the flat surface is supported bythe jig 201.

According to the above-described configuration, the jig-receivingsurface 4 a constituted by the flat surface is directly supported by thejig 201. Accordingly, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 canbe joined to each other in a state where the portion (the vicinity ofthe seal portion) of the partition wall 4 which surrounds the fluidpassage 41 is reliably held. Consequently, when the middle piece 103 andthe lower piece 102 are being joined to each other, the seal portion(the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) which is in the vicinity of thefluid passage 41 and with which the valve body 21 is configured to be incontact is reliably restricted from being deflected.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the jig-receiving surface 4a is arranged at the outer side relative to the seal surface 411 a, 412a configured to be in contact with the seal member 22 of the valve body21, the seal member 22 is arranged along the edge portion 411, 412 ofthe fluid passage 41.

According to the above-described configuration, the lower piece 102 canbe joined to the middle piece 103 in a state where the jig-receivingsurface 4 a at the outer side relative to the seal surfaces 411 a and412 a of the middle piece 103 is supported by the jig 201 withoutcausing the jig 201 to come into contact with the seal surfaces 411 aand 412 a. Consequently, after the air intake apparatus body 105 isformed, the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a do not include, for example,the dent (the trace or mark of the application of load) caused by thejig 201 and the flatness of the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a ismaintained. As a result, the sealability of the fluid passage 41 by thevalve body 21 is appropriately ensured.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the manufacturing method ofthe air intake apparatus 100, includes the step of attaching the valvebody 21 to the middle piece 103, the valve body 21 rotating between theopen position and the closed position to open and close the fluidpassage 41 formed at the partition wall 4 dividing the inside of thesurge tank 1 for the V-type 6-cylinder engine 10 into the two parts, thevalve body 21 being out of contact with the partition wall 4 at the openposition and being in contact with the partition wall 4 at the closedposition, the step of forming the air intake apparatus body 105including the surge tank 1 for the internal combustion engine 10 in amanner that the middle piece 103 to which the valve body 21 is attachedand the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to each otherby the vibration welding, and the step of forming the air intakeapparatus body 105 including the step of joining the middle piece 103and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) to each other by thevibration welding in a state where the jig-receiving portions 161 and 4a arranged in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 of the middle piece103 are held by the jigs 201 and 202.

According to the above-described method, the air intake apparatus body105 is formed in a manner that the middle piece 103 and the lower piece102 (the upper piece 101) are joined to each other by the vibrationwelding in a state where the jig-receiving portions 161 and 4 a that arearranged in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 of the middle piece 103are held by the jigs 201 and 202. Accordingly, while the middle piece103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are being joined toeach other by the vibration welding to manufacture the air intakeapparatus body 105, the middle piece 103 can be joined to the lowerpiece 102 (the upper piece 101) in a state where the middle piece 103 isheld by the jigs 201 and 202 via the jig-receiving portions 161 and 4 aprovided in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 of the partition wall4. That is, the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102, and the upperpiece 101 are joined to one another to form the surge tank 1 whileavoiding the deflection deformation such as the warp and/or twist asmuch as possible at the portion (the seal portion) of the partition wall4 in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41. Consequently, after the airintake apparatus body 105 is manufactured, the flatness of the portionof the partition wall 4 (that is, the seal portion) where the valve body21 rotates is maintained around the fluid passage 41, and therefore theair intake apparatus 100 is obtained in which the appropriate sealingperformance or sealability is ensured when the valve body 21 is at theclosed position.

In addition, the above-described method includes the step of attachingthe valve body 21 to the middle piece 103. The valve body 21 isconfigured to rotate between the open position at which the valve body21 is out of contact with the partition wall 4 and the closed positionat which the valve body 21 is in contact with the partition wall 4, toopen and close the fluid passage 41 formed at the partition wall 4dividing the inside of the surge tank 1 into the two parts. Theabove-described method includes the step of forming the air intakeapparatus body 105 in a manner that the first member 103 in which thevalve body 21 is incorporated and the lower piece 102 are joined to eachother by the vibration welding. Accordingly, by rotating the valve body21, the fluid passage 41 formed at the partition wall 4 is directlyblocked or closed. That is, the opening portion formed at the partitionwall 4 can be utilized as is, as the fluid passage 41 opened and closedwith the valve body 21. Accordingly, the air intake apparatus body 105can be obtained in which the cross-sectional area of the fluid passage41 is ensured to be large. Because the cross-sectional area of the fluidpassage 41 is increased, the pressure loss of the intake air circulatingthrough the fluid passage 41 is reduced and thus the amount of intakeair circulating through the fluid passage 41 is increased accordingly ina case where the valve body 21 rotates to the open position to establishthe fluid communication between the two space portions. As a result, theair intake apparatus 100 in which the supercharging effect is enhancedcan be obtained.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the middle piece 103includes the actuator attach portion 160 to which the actuator 120rotating the valve body 21 is configured to be attached, and thejig-receiving portion 161 is provided at the actuator attach portion160. The step of forming the air intake apparatus body 105 includes thestep of joining the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 (the upperpiece 101) to each other by the vibration welding in a state where thejig-receiving portion 161 of the actuator attach portion 160 is held bythe jigs 201 and 202.

According to the above-described method, the jig-receiving portion 161is provided at the portion of the actuator attach portion 160 which isrelatively close to the fluid passage 41. As the jig-receiving portion161 of the actuator attach portion 160 is held by the jigs 201 and 202,the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) arejoined to each other by the vibration welding in a state where theportion in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 is easily held.Consequently, the seal portion (the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) whichis in the vicinity of the fluid passage 41 and to which the valve body21 is configured to be in contact is easily restricted from beingdeflected or deformed while the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102(the upper piece 101) are being joined to each other.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the first member correspondsto the middle piece 103 including the partition wall 4 dividing theinside of the surge tank 1 into the two parts, the second membercorresponds to the upper piece 101 arranged at the upper surface side ofthe partition wall 4 and the lower piece 102 arranged at the lowersurface side of the partition wall 4. The step of forming the air intakeapparatus body 105 includes the step of joining one of the upper piece101 and the lower piece 102, and the middle piece 103 to each other bythe vibration welding in a state where the jig-receiving portion 161, 4a is held by the jig 201, and thereafter further joining the other ofthe upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102, and the middle piece 103 toeach other by the vibration welding in a state where the middle piece103 and the one of the upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102 is joinedto each other and where the jig-receiving portion 161 is held by the jig202. The one of the upper piece 101 and the lower piece 102 includes therelatively higher rigidity than the other and the other of the upperpiece 101 and the lower piece 102 includes the relatively lower rigiditythan the one.

According to the above-described method, the air intake apparatus body105 can be formed in the following manner. The lower piece 102 includingthe relatively high rigidity and an appropriate load-bearing performanceduring the vibration-welding and the middle piece 103 including thepartition wall 4 are joined to each other first so that the structuralbody including the little or small distortion or deformation (that is,the structural body including the accurate design dimension) is formed.Thereafter, the upper piece 101 including the relatively low rigidity isjoined to the above-described structural body including the little orsmall distortion or deformation (that is, the structural body includingthe accurate design dimension). Consequently, even in a case where thethree pieces are joined to one another by the vibration welding, theflatness of the portion of the partition wall 4 (the seal portion, thatis, the seal surfaces 411 a and 412 a) where the valve body 21 rotatesis ensured, and the air intake apparatus body 105, of which the designdimension after completion of the manufacture thereof is accurate, iseasily obtained.

According to the aforementioned embodiment, the jig-receiving portionsinclude the first jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161 d, 161 e arranged atthe side which is closer to the upper piece 101 than to the lower piece102. The jig 202 is inserted in the first jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161d, 161 e when the middle piece 103 and the upper piece 101 are beingjoined to each other. The jig-receiving portions include thejig-receiving surface 4 a including the flat surface surrounding thefluid passage 41 formed at the partition wall 4 of the middle piece 103.The jig-receiving portions include the second jig-insertion holes 161 a,161 b arranged at the side which is closer to the lower piece 102 thanto the upper piece 101. The jig 201 is inserted in the secondjig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b when the middle piece 103 and the lowerpiece 102 are being joined to each other. The step of forming the airintake apparatus body 105 includes the step of joining the middle piece103 and the lower piece 102 to each other by the vibration welding in astate where the jig-receiving surface 4 a of the middle piece 103 isheld by the jig 201 and where the jig 201 is inserted in the secondjig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b of the middle piece 103, thejig-receiving surface 4 a including the flat surface. The step offorming the air intake apparatus body 105 includes the step of joiningthe middle piece 103 to which the lower piece 102 is joined and theupper piece 101 to each other by the vibration welding in a state wherethe jig 202 is inserted in the first jig-insertion holes 161 c, 161 d,161 e of the middle piece 103. The step of joining the middle piece 103to which the lower piece 102 is joined and the upper piece 101 to eachother is conducted after the step of joining the middle piece 103 andthe lower piece 102 to each other by the vibration welding.

According to the above-described method, first, the middle piece 103 isjoined to the lower piece 102 including the relatively high rigidity andthe appropriate load-bearing performance during the vibration-welding.When the middle piece 103 is being joined to the lower piece 102, thejig 201 is inserted in the second jig-insertion holes 161 a and 161 barranged at the middle piece 103 at the side closer to the lower piece102, and the jig-receiving surface 4 a of the middle piece 103 issupported by the jig 201. Thus, the middle piece 103 is being joined tothe lower piece 102 in the state where the portion of the jig-receivingportion 161 in the vicinity of the joint portion with the lower piece102 is reliably held (supported). Accordingly, the structural bodyincluding the distortion that is small in extent (that is, thestructural body including the accurate design dimension) can be formed.Then, the middle piece 103 to which the lower piece 102 has been joinedis joined to the upper piece 101 including the relatively low rigidity.When the middle piece 103 is being joined to the upper piece 101, thejig 202 is inserted into the first jig-insertion holes 161 c to 161 ewhich are arranged at the middle piece 103 to be positioned at the sidecloser to the upper piece 101 and thus the portion of the jig-receivingportion 161 in the vicinity of the joined portion with the upper piece101 is reliably held. Thus, the occurrence of the distortion ordeformation can be prevented or reduced. Consequently, even in a casewhere the three members, that is, the three pieces, are joined to oneanother by the vibration welding, the flatness of the portion of thepartition wall 4 where the valve body 21 rotates is ensured, and the airintake apparatus body 105, of which the design dimension aftercompletion of the manufacture thereof is accurate, is easily obtained.

The air intake apparatus according to the present disclosure may includea configuration described below.

According to the air intake apparatus 100 described above, thejig-receiving portion 161 includes the jig-insertion holes 161 a, 161 b,161 c, 161 d and 161 e serving as the jig-receiving portion. Thejig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e are extended in the direction whichis orthogonal to the joining direction in which the middle piece 103(the first member), the lower piece 102 (the second member) and theupper piece 101 (the second member) are joined to one another. Accordingto the above-described configuration, when the middle piece 103 and thelower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) are made to face each other andthen to be joined to each other in this direction in which the middlepiece 103 and the lower piece 102 (the upper piece 101) face each other,the jig 201 (the jig 202) can be inserted into the respectivejig-insertion holes 161 a to 161 e from the lateral side (from the outerside) that is orthogonal to the joining direction. Consequently, thejig-receiving portion 161 of the middle piece 103 is supported easily ina simple manner when the middle piece 103 and the lower piece 102 (theupper piece 101) are being joined to each other.

The principles, preferred embodiments and mode of operation of thepresent invention have been described in the foregoing specification.However, the invention which is intended to be protected is not to beconstrued as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Further,the embodiments described herein are to be regarded as illustrativerather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others,and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all suchvariations, changes and equivalents which fall within the spirit andscope of the present invention as defined in the claims, be embracedthereby.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An air intake apparatus comprising: an airintake apparatus body including a surge tank for an internal combustionengine; a valve body rotatably attached to the surge tank and configuredto rotate between an open position and a closed position to open andclose a fluid passage formed at a partition wall dividing an inside ofthe surge tank into two parts, the valve body being out of contact withthe partition wall at the open position and being in contact with thepartition wall at the closed position; the air intake apparatus bodybeing formed by a first member to which the valve body is attached and asecond member joined to the first member; and the first member includinga jig-receiving portion arranged in a vicinity of the fluid passage andconfigured to receive a jig holding the first member when the firstmember and the second member are being joined to each other, wherein thefirst member includes an actuator attach portion to which an actuatorrotating the valve body is configured to be attached, the jig-receivingportion is provided at the actuator attach portion, the air intakeapparatus body is formed by the first member and the second memberjoined to each other in a state where the jig-receiving portion of theactuator attach portion is held by the jig, the actuator attach portionincludes a jig-insertion hole serving as the jig-receiving portion, thefirst member corresponds to a middle piece including the partition walldividing the inside of the surge tank into the two parts, the secondmember corresponds to an upper piece arranged at an upper surface sideof the partition wall and a lower piece arranged at a lower surface sideof the partition wall, the jig-insertion hole includes a firstjig-insertion hole into which the jig is inserted when the middle pieceand the upper piece are being joined to each other, and a secondjig-insertion hole into which the jig is inserted when the middle pieceand the lower piece are being joined to each other, and the firstjig-insertion hole is arranged at a side which is closer to the upperpiece than to the lower piece, and the second jig-insertion hole isarranged at a side which is closer to the lower piece than to the upperpiece.
 2. The air intake apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thefirst member includes the partition wall dividing the inside of thesurge tank into the two parts, the jig-receiving portion includes ajig-receiving surface including a flat surface surrounding the fluidpassage formed at the partition wall, and the first member and thesecond member are joined to each other in a state where thejig-receiving surface including the flat surface is supported by thejig.
 3. The air intake apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thejig-receiving surface is arranged at an outer side relative to a sealsurface configured to be in contact with a seal member of the valvebody, the seal member is arranged along an edge portion of the fluidpassage.
 4. A manufacturing method of an air intake apparatus,comprising: a step of attaching a valve body to a first member, thevalve body rotating between an open position and a closed position toopen and close a fluid passage formed at a partition wall dividing aninside of a surge tank for an internal combustion engine into two parts,the valve body being out of contact with the partition wall at the openposition and being in contact with the partition wall at the closedposition; a step of forming an air intake apparatus body including thesurge tank for the internal combustion engine in a manner that the firstmember to which the valve body is attached and a second member arejoined to each other by vibration welding; and the step of forming theair intake apparatus body including a step of joining the first memberand the second member to each other by the vibration welding in a statewhere a jig-receiving portion arranged in a vicinity of the fluidpassage of the first member is held by a jig, wherein the first memberincludes an actuator attach portion to which an actuator rotating thevalve body is configured to be attached, the jig-receiving portion isprovided at the actuator attach portion, the step of forming the airintake apparatus body includes a step of joining the first member andthe second member to each other by the vibration welding in a statewhere the jig-receiving portion of the actuator attach portion is heldby the jig, the first member corresponds to a middle piece including thepartition wall dividing the inside of the surge tank into the two parts,the second member corresponds to an upper piece arranged at an uppersurface side of the partition wall and a lower piece arranged at a lowersurface side of the partition wall, and the step of forming the airintake apparatus body includes a step of joining one of the upper pieceand the lower piece, and the middle piece to each other by the vibrationwelding in a state where the jig-receiving portion is held by the jig,and thereafter further joining the other of the upper piece and thelower piece, and the middle piece to each other by the vibration weldingin a state where the middle piece and the one of the upper piece and thelower piece is joined to each other and where the jig-receiving portionis held by the jig, the one of the upper piece and the lower pieceincluding a relatively higher rigidity than the other and the other ofthe upper piece and the lower piece including a relatively lowerrigidity than the one.
 5. The manufacturing method of the air intakeapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the jig-receiving portionincludes: a first jig-insertion hole arranged at a side which is closerto the upper piece than to the lower piece, the jig is inserted in thefirst jig-insertion hole when the middle piece and the upper piece arebeing joined to each other, a jig-receiving surface including a flatsurface surrounding the fluid passage formed at the partition wall ofthe middle piece, a second jig-insertion hole arranged at a side whichis closer to the lower piece than to the upper piece, the jig isinserted in the second jig-insertion hole when the middle piece and thelower piece are being joined to each other, and the step of forming theair intake apparatus body includes: a step of joining the middle pieceand the lower piece to each other by the vibration welding in a statewhere the jig-receiving surface of the middle piece is held by the jigand where the jig is inserted in the second jig-insertion hole of themiddle piece, the jig-receiving surface including the flat surface, anda step of joining the middle piece to which the lower piece is joinedand the upper piece to each other by the vibration welding in a statewhere the jig is inserted in the first jig-insertion hole of the middlepiece, the step of joining the middle piece to which the lower piece isjoined and the upper piece to each other being conducted after the stepof joining the middle piece and the lower piece to each other by thevibration welding.